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Topic: New to Combat Robotics (Read 5161 times)

Hi guys,so i really want to get into combat robotics and am currently attempting to get a job to fund this (high school student) so currently am just designing for a 3lb robot. am thinking of doing something similar to sgt. cuddles (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5MbYqHyuIM) but with an aluminum chassis and a titanium drum. any ideas/help would be greatly appreciated

Sgt. Cuddles is a pretty solid design, so you're good there. My suggestions revolve around your material choices. Aside from the thin sheets that FingerTech Robotics sells, titanium is very, very expensive. Almost all drums in the 3lb class are made from aluminum for cost reasons, and they often last years without needing to be replaced. Aluminum for the chassis is a fine choice, but if you mimic Sgt. Cuddles exactly (which is a unibody design), it'll again be pretty pricey. I'd suggest either using the same material as Sgt. Cuddles (UHMW, which actually holds up great on 3lb robots) or change the design slightly to use multiple flat pieces of aluminum plate joined by screws rather than machining it all from a single billet. The SCRC Kilobots builder's Facebook page is probably worth joining too, and by far the best place to get help is at one of our events. The next one is at the Saskatoon Mini Maker Faire on May 26th. Everyone is super friendly and helpful, and some of the Kilobots members have been fighting robots for a ridiculously long time and have tried pretty much everything.

yea one problem is that i dont know where to get uhmw and also i have no way to machine it( best case scenario was going to ask if i could use someone elses) with your idea in mind i had the idea of possibly the uhmw and for extra armour (sgt cuddles is 1lb) screwing aluminum plates into side and top to create a "case" and the uhmw is good for shock obsorbtion aswell

Aluminum is generally used as an ablative armor, so it performs the same function as UHMW. If you wanted something that would deflect hits to cover the UHMW, titanium or hardened steel are probably better. There really isn't much need for that, though. Many of us just use UHMW as armor on its own.

If you want to go with a UHMW unibody you'll need to know how to use a CAD program like Fusion, Inventor, or SolidWorks. If you have a CAD program and can design the chassis, I can help you with the rest. Saskatoon TechWorks has a CNC machine that does a great job on UHMW, and it's free for members to use. I'm a member there, so I can help you design toolpaths and learn how to operate the machine. If you want to pass on CAD for now and design on paper, then you'll probably want to go with a bolt together frame rather than unibody. I use a bolted together UHMW chassis for one of my 3lb drum spinners and a bolted together aluminum chassis for the other two.

For the drum, Sgt. Cuddles uses a direct drive drum, which is probably not something you'd want to make on your own for your first bot. Kitbots sells an off the shelf direct drive drum that's probably an easier solution. They also provide a chassis and internal parts for it if you want to start competing before finishing your first original design. FingerTech Robotics is another option. They sell a belt drive beater bar and all the accessories you'd need to get it running. And they're conveniently located in Saskatoon so you don't even have to pay shipping.